Another helpless victim of domestic violence has slipped through the cracks of an imperfect system for protecting the helpless.

The victim was 7-month-old Aaden Moreno, whose body was found in the Connecticut River Tuesday night after a three-day search.

The infant boy may have been thrown from the Arrigoni Bridge in Middletown by his father, Tony, 21, who jumped from the bridge Sunday but survived.

On the surface, the baby's death is even more tragic and poignant in light of the fact that Superior Court Judge Barry C. Pinkus decided not to grant a restraining order to the child's mother, Adrianne Oyola, 19, because he was not convinced that Mr. Moreno posed a continuous physical threat to his girlfriend and their child as required by statute.

Ms. Oyola told the court that she feared for her and her child's safety. The judge observed that she and Mr. Moreno had a chaotic relationship and should not live together.

But, he said in refusing to grant the restraining order to Ms. Oyola, "I'm just not convinced that there's a continuous threat of present physical pain or physical injury."

The tragic death of an infant, apparently thrown by his father, Tony Moreno, from the Arrigoni Bridge in Middletown on Sunday put new focus on the family court system — particularly Judge Barry C. Pinkus' June 29 ruling to deny the permanent restraining order application of Adrianne Oyola, the...

(RICH ROCHLIN)

It should also be noted that later on the day the restraining order was denied, Ms. Oyala and Mr. Moreno followed Judge Pinkus' advice and worked out a custody agreement. They agreed to joint custody of Aaden.

It would be too easy to blame Judge Pinkus, an experienced family jurist, for Aaden's death. He followed the law. More than nine times out of 10 such a decision would not have produced such a ghastly result.

State Sen. Dante Bartolomeo of Meriden said the judge's failure to issue a restraining order represents a "horrendous failure of the system."

Well, it was a horrendous result. Does the statute need to be loosened to make it easier for judges to grant such orders?